


Hope's Blessing

by Sannguine



Category: Diablo III, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2013-11-27
Packaged: 2018-01-02 18:24:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sannguine/pseuds/Sannguine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikasa Ackerman was nine years old when she watched her parents be brutally murdered, kidnapped, and subsequently, rescued by the kid she would later call her best-friend. The only problem was, Mikasa Ackerman was also nine years old when she was killed by the same kidnappers that murdered her parents.  </p><p>Slightly off-canon AU where Mikasa is killed and brought back to life as a Guardian Angel in charge of protecting Eren and the rest of her friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope's Blessing

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to my girl Nikki [chocolatecoveredchai.tumblr.com] for coming up with the idea originally, and for being the sweetheart she is and letting me write the thing ~ you're an angel yourself! <3
> 
> Also, this is tagged as a D3 crossover as well, because Auriel is actually an Arch-Angel from Diablo 3, and some of the lore and descriptions I've used/will be using, will be taken from the Diablo Universe. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

It’s not like she didn’t have any recollection of the series of events that led up to this point, of realizing that she wasn’t entirely human, but neither entirely angelic, either, something in between.

~

She had watched her parents being brutally murdered in their own house. She had been kidnapped, dragged out of the only comfort she’d ever known by the length of her raven hair. She was held hostage, bound and gagged and waiting for what she wished was a quick death, but knowing better. She watched the strange boy with turquoise eyes and messy hair creep into the room, Eren she remembered vaguely in the back of her screaming mind, the son of the doctor her now dead father was friends with, covered in blood with a knife in hand, cutting her free of her ropes and ripping the dirty clothe from her mouth.

Her lips moved as if to say thank you, but her whole body was numb and nothing wanted to cooperate with her. Eren had managed to smile at her, despite the blotches of red covering his face and staining the ends of his brown hair. How he managed to look so normal at a time like this, she wouldn’t understand until many years later.

“You’re Mikasa, right? Your father is, was, friends with my father, we were coming to visit you but..”

The raven haired girl nodded. “I know.”

Eren frowned then, and leaned forward to hug her tightly, wrapping his arms securely around the exotic looking girl, and murmuring something under his breath, something his mother often sang to him when he couldn’t sleep, and he noted briefly, that it seemed to work for her as well when he felt Mikasa sag slightly into his embrace . Neither of them moved for several moments, and when Eren pulled back, there were tears in Mikasa’s steel-coloured eyes.

It was when her eyes dilated, though, that Eren reacted, and turned around lightning quick for a boy so small and young, rolling away just before the last of the criminals barreled his way into the room, swinging furiously at the pair of them with his daggers. Mikasa had just enough time to react before he descended on her, but fatigue still limited her reaction time, and one of the blades caught her in the leg, cutting. It stung, but she managed to kick with her other leg before the man came any closer, knocking one of the daggers from his hand, where it clattered loudly on the other side of the room.

Eren was on the man in an instant, trying to distract him long enough for Mikasa to run, but the man was strong, and shifting his weight, caused Eren to lose his balance and the boy went toppling to the ground in a mess of limbs and anxious scrambling. Mikasa had already witnessed this scene play out twice within the last hour, and she wasn’t about to witness it a third, not when the victim was about to be another kid her age.

She remembered pushing Eren away then, catching the metal bite of the daggers in the middle of her back, feeling them press roughly into her body and twist, unyielding, into her lungs and ribs and fuck, everything burned, she felt like she was on fire, and knew by the way everything became suddenly wet that she was bleeding profusely.

But this was what she wanted, right? She didn’t want some kid getting hurt over her, not when Eren had his own life, a family to live for. She had nothing. Her parents were dead, murdered before her eyes. She had nothing left. This was what she wanted, this was the so called “quick death” she’d been hoping for just minutes before.

So why was her mind screaming at her then to live? There were faint sounds, but she couldn’t tell what exactly they were anymore, and really, she didn’t care. Everything muddled into one collective noise until suddenly, there was nothing.

~

They say that sometimes, if something so awful happens to a person in life, their soul cannot rest in death; it cannot accept the peace that is offered to them in high heavens. These restless souls are given an opportunity not every other soul is offered, in fact, fewer souls have received this offer that many question their initial existence. They’re given the chance to return to their former lives, but in the form of protectors. Their existences in the mortal world are often known as guardian angels.

Mikasa’s soul wept.

She stood at the gates of heaven, eyes devoid of emotion, body limp, her blood-stained clothes having been traded in for robes of silken gold and pastel pinks. Her hair that had been matted up with sweat and blood, now ran freely down her back, whipping gently at her robes. She looked the part — heavenly, but there was an undeniable sadness behind her eyes. Where her clothes had radiated warmth, however, her soul was cold and harsh. The Arch-Angels could sense her despair, could see the horrible memories in her head, her heart, as clear as day, despite Mikasa trying to push them aside

She knew she was dead. Somehow, that only caused her grief to amply.

She had been standing at the Gates still when she’d heard the whispers. Faint murmurs in her ear, ones that reminded her of Eren’s own lips pressed gently against her ear, and Mikasa clenched her fists at the thought. There was a figure before her now, floating gracefully down from the ivory steps just behind the gates, approaching her with a smile and warm, honey eyes. The angel landed gracefully on booted feet, taking small steps towards the exotic girl, her smile never faltering.

Mikasa had always believed that angels were merely for show. Halos, wings, some fancy robes, or what her mother had once described as “Cupid”, a baby-angel that shot a bow and caused two strangers to fall in love.

She hadn’t expected angels to look like this, however.

She could see her eyes, warm pools of amber that glowed from beneath her clothed hood. It was connected to the rest of her armor, but looked far different than any of the other pieces. She wore silver pauldrons that were spiked on the ends, a silver cuirass that lead into a faint lavender sash around her waist, and both arms were covered in thick, silver gauntlets. Her boots were made of the same shiny silver material, and covered well beyond her knee, settling to mid-thigh.

An ivory-colored ribbon weaved in and out of her armor, circling around arm and chest, acting as her hood and winding its way down to either side of her body.

What stood out the most, however, were her wings. They looked _nothing_ like what Mikasa’s mother had ever described to her. Instead of being feathery and white, they were damn near translucent, and rippled behind her like water that had been gently disturbed.

When the angel spoke again, Mikasa found herself sighing at her voice, overcome by just how soothing it sounded, like lying next to the fireplace and drinking tea with her father. It reminded her of better times, and Mikasa felt the sudden urge to cry.

“Mikasa Ackerman, I am Auriel, the Arch-Angel of Hope, and I have come to bestow a great blessing upon you. You have been wronged, your family taken from you, murdered before your very eyes. Your childhood ripped away. Your soul is filled hatred. You believe the world is cruel and unkind. I am here to grant you the opportunity to change that.”

Mikasa felt herself wanting to speak, just like she had wanted to speak to Eren, but once again found herself immobilized.

“Child, you have suffered much heartache, far more than one as innocent as you should ever have.”

The words winded into Mikasa’s skin, tickling at the scars that rested against her chest and back, melting against marred red skin, and cautiously, Mikasa pulled the robe away just far enough to stare at her own skin, noticing that the ugly scars had been replaced with fine, white lines. It didn’t burn, the raven had noticed, but something in her heart ached suddenly.

“I’m offering you to return to your home, with my blessing, and that of the High Heavens, and fight for a better world. I know your world lives in fear of these ‘titans’, but know that with my blessing, you will learn to defeat them, and overcome your fears in the process. With my blessing, you will have the power to do what you could not before.”

No words were needed. Auriel could sense it in the child, could see the way her heart flickered back to life, could see the inner flame ignite until the raven’s entire aura burned like an inferno.

~

They’d all been friends for so long now; Mikasa had _almost_ forgotten that she wasn’t like them, like her two best-friends in the world, the ones she grew up protecting and risking her life for, if only to keep those smiles on their faces, to never have to watch them suffer the way she had, to guard them with her life.

As far as anyone else was concerned, she was human. She was attacked as a child, and Doctor Yeager was able to treat the severity of her wounds, but ultimately, she had slipped into a coma. For nine days, she laid in Eren’s bed while Eren sat by her side, watching every movement, every breath, every slow beat of her heart, whispering to her to come back to him, to wake up, that Eren missed her and he didn’t want her dying.

For nine days she lay unresponsive to anyone. On the tenth day, her heart finally gave out. Eren wept, but refused to believe that she was dead.

“She can’t be dead! She can’t be. Dad, you need to fix her! You’re a doctor, do something?!”

“I’ve done all I could, Eren.”

“That’s not good enough! You can’t just let her die!”

“I’m sorry son.”

Eren begged for just one more night. Just one more night, and perhaps a miracle would happen and she would come back. Begrudgingly, his father and mother had agreed, and Eren kept to her bedside the entire night, holding one of her tiny, cold hands in his, his forehead pressed against the back of her hand.

“Mikasa, please, if you can hear me. Wake up. Come back to me. Don’t be d—” he fought back the tears, gripping her hand tighter. How silly it was of him to be this attached to a girl he didn’t really know, but he didn’t want her to die. He wanted to be able to protect her, take care of her. He wanted to see her live.

“Don’t be dead, please. I need you.”

Eren allowed himself to cry for the first time in a long time.

He wasn’t too sure how long he’d been asleep for before he heard the whispering. His head shot up, as if he was hearing things, but then he heard it again, louder this time, and slowly, he saw her open her eyes.

“You don’t need anyone.” She had whispered, and Eren nearly fell backwards in his seat.

“Mikasa! You’re alive?!” the brunette exclaimed, and the young girl giggled, although laughing after being idle for ten days caused her to groan in pain.

“I think so.” Was all she offered.

Eren cried again, but this time, for entirely different reasons. Mikasa let her unoccupied hand feather into Eren’s messy hair. Auriel’s words burned in the back of her mind.

_With my blessing, you will have the power to do what you could not before._


End file.
